AS THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF APC RAGES ON : Saraki, Dogara, dare APC; reject party’s choices of principal officers for Senate, House ... PremiumTimes

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, have yet again defied their party, the ruling All Progressives Congress, rejecting the APC’s nominees for top leadership positions in the two chambers of the National Assembly.
Messrs Saraki and Dogara defeated candidates nominated by the APC for the positions of Senate president and House Speaker respectively.
Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila were the APC’s official candidates for the positions of Senate President and House Speaker.
On Tuesday, the party wrote the two leaders directing them to adopt candidates who lost at the elections as principal officers.
In its letter, the party picked Mr. Lawan as Senate Leader; Sola Adeyeye as Chief Whip; George Akume as Deputy Senate Leader; and Abu Ibrahim as Deputy Whip.
For the House Representatives,Mr. Gbajabiamila is the party’s choice to emerge House Leader, while Mohammed Monguno would serve as Chief Whip; Alhassan Doguro Deputy Speaker; and Pally Iriase as Deputy Whip.
However, investigations by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that Messrs Saraki and Dogara were yet to accept the party’s terms as at 5 a.m. on Wednesday.
“The issue of the principal officers is a party affair,” a senior party leader told PREMIUM TIMES. “Traditionally; in the legislative practice, it is the party that forwards names of its members who should fill the positions to the Senate President or Speaker as the case maybe. And that is what APC is insisting on.”
The official said while Mr. Dogara has agreed to a power sharing arrangement with the party, Mr. Saraki has vowed not to adopt any of the party’s nominees for the positions.
“What Dogara is saying is that if the party takes the House Leader, a member from his group should be the Chief Whip and so on. But Saraki is not ready to comply with the party’s directives at all.
“You know why Saraki is doing like that and making the party to be at his mercy? He is confident the party cannot mobilise the two-thirds majority to remove him,” the party official said.
He said the party was not prepared to negotiate its directives with any of the two leaders this time.
“The party has written letters to both the Senate President and the Speaker. What the party is expecting is compliance; nothing but compliance.”
Asked what the party would do should the National Assembly leaders decide to kick against the directive of the party, he said, “We are expecting him to do that. We are waiting for him. We shall wait for him.”
Mr. Saraki and his aides could not be reached for comments Tuesday night. Telephone calls to them were neither answered nor returned.
But a staunch supporter of the Senate President, Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi) told PREMIUM TIMES his group was not prepared to compensate those who lost out in the election for the senate president position.
“Saraki has won the election and become Senate President,” Mr. Dino said on telephone. That’s the position everybody should live with it. And I don’t know for the man who contested for the Senate President but now lobbying to be Leader. It is like contesting for governor and then looking to be Commissioner. They should have pride.”
The Senate president’s refusal to accept the party’s position played out Tuesday at a stormy session that split lawmakers into two factions – those supporting Mr. Saraki and those backing the party and Mr. Lawan.
The two sides disagreed on the procedure for choosing members for the available positions of principal officers, leading to verbal exchanges.
Members supporting Saraki want the positions zoned by the Senate as follows: Majority Leader, North-East; Deputy Majority Leader, North-West; Chief Whip, South-West; and Deputy Whip, South-South.
By contrast, lawmakers in support of the party said the APC must fill all the available positions.
Suleiman Hunkuyi, who represents Kaduna North senatorial district, said the disagreement was caused by an attempt by the leadership of the Senate to impose its decisions on the majority of the APC senators.
“The leadership of the party, which is the APC, still reigns supreme to decide the true position of leadership and we shall have it. An attempt to do otherwise is to cause confusion,” he said.
Abu Ibrahim, representing Katsina South senatorial district, said the senators had no power to zone the leadership positions to any region.
“As far as I am concerned this was never done, I was a principal officer in the last senate, the party gave our names and that’s how I became a principal officer,’’ he said.
He called on the APC to “wield its big stick, if anybody decides to go against the directives of the party. The party must take disciplinary action”.
Shortly before the Senate’s closed-door meeting Tuesday, the senate president, Mr. Saraki urged the lawmakers to work as a family and resolve their issues.
“Distinguished colleagues, I do believe that no matter what are the issues outstanding amongst us as a family, they are surmountable and resolvable in the atmosphere of love and understanding.
“In this room today, we can and shall put the past behind us and we shall all come out of this room, individually and collectively victorious. There is nothing like a winner or loser.
“Our party, the APC is the winner and we are all conquerors,’’ he said.

SO JONATHAN'S GOATS HAVE EATEN ALL THIS YAM? : Missing $20 bn: Again, NNPC fails to refund $1.48 bn ... PremiumTimes

For the umpteenth time, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, on Tuesday failed to refund to the Federation Account $1.48 billion balance of an alleged missing $20 billion oil money.
An audit ordered by the Goodluck Jonathan administration recommended that $1.48 billion be paid by NNPC to the government.
The review followed an allegation by a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, who accused the NNPC of failing to account for $20 billion oil money.
Since the submission of the audit report February, Nigeria’s 36 state governments have been clamouring for the money to be quickly paid by the NNPC and shared between the federal and state governments.
But the oil company has failed to pay the comply during past revenue sharing meetings between the states and the federal government.
On Tuesday, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Anastasia Daniel-Nwokobia, said at the end of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting for May, that no explanation was given by the corporation for its inability to remit the money as recommended.
“The issue of the refund of the $1.48 bn recommended in the forensic audit report was not discussed, and so no refund was made, apart from the N6.33 bn refunded as part of the N450 bn oil revenue it owed the Federal Government since 2011,” Mrs. Daniel-Nwokobia said.
At the end of the meeting, the Permanent Secretary said gross revenue receipt for the month was about N324.06 bn, which was higher than the N282.062 bn received in May by about N41.999 bn. Total distributable revenues between the Federal and the 36 state governments put about N409.5 bn.
Details of the allocation released at the end of the meeting showed that mineral revenue was N225.167 bn, while non-mineral revenue was N98.89 bn.
Net statutory allocation, she said, stood at N317.236 bn, which included N2.403 bn as 4% cost of collection by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), N2.88 bn as 7% cost of collection for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and N1.54 bn as 4% cost of collection by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
The Federal Government received about N151.805 bn, while the states received N76.98 bn and Local Governments N59.36 bn. The nine oil mineral producing states were allocated N29.7 bn.
There was also exchange gain of N31.24 bn proposed for distribution, while value added tax realised for the month was N418.452 bn.
According to the Permanent Secretary, delays in the issuance of the third quarter 2015 Export Permit lead to a drop of about 160,000 barrels of oil per day in April, apart from several shutdowns and shut-ins of the trunk and pipelines at oil terminals, which continued to negatively impact crude oil revenue.
However, she said an increase in the average price of crude oil from $56.04 per barrel in March 2015 to $59.88 per barrel in April brought $19.7 mn revenue gain for the month, while non-oil revenues are expected to perform better in the later art of the year due to some mechanisms put in place by the FIRS.
On the balance of the excess crude account (ECA), she said the amount stood at $2.078 bn.
On why the FAAC was shifted from the earlier schedule of June 15 and 16, Mrs. Daniel-Nwokobia said since the governments at all levels have in the country have been in transition after the May 29 handover to a new administration, there was need to wait.
“Most of the states are yet to appoint their commissioners and reconstitute their executive councils. The FAAC secretariat had to liaise with the states to know who would be representing them at the meeting
Again a few days to the FAAC meeting, the Accountant General of the Federation retired on June 12, necessitating clearance to be sought on who should take the office, in view of the critical role it has to play in the meeting,” she said.

NOW THAT STEALING IS CORRUPTION AND CORRUPT PERSONS MUST BE APPREHENDED : Buhari secures U.S., others’ support to recover billions stolen from Nigeria ... PremiumTimes

President Muhammadu Buhari said Tuesday in Abuja that his administration has received firm assurances of cooperation from the United States and other countries on the recovery and repatriation of funds stolen from Nigeria.
Speaking at an audience with members of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Abubakar, President Buhari said it was now up to Nigeria to provide the international community with the facts and figures needed to drive the recovery effort.
“In the next three months, our administration will be busy getting those facts and the figures to help us recover our stolen funds in foreign countries,” the president told the traditional rulers.
Citing the report submitted by the Ahmed Joda-led transition committee, President Buhari said that several revenue-generating institutions in the country have been compromised leading to a weak economy.
At an earlier meeting with governors on Tuesday, President Buhari had assured that his government will recover billions of dollars in the next three months.
He vowed to ensure monies stolen by past officials were returned. He also warned the governors that the era of impunity and brazen theft of public funds was over.
On insecurity, the president said traditional rulers could play a key role in stemming terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria by assisting the government with cost-effective intelligence gathering.
President Buhari also assured the traditional rulers that his administration was working hard to end insecurity and terrorism in the country in the shortest possible time with the cooperation of neighbouring countries and the international community.
Acknowledging that Nigerians expected a lot from his administration, the president appealed for patience and understanding while his government works diligently to speedily overcome the huge national challenges it inherited.
The sultan, Abubakar, had earlier presented the Northern Traditional Rulers’ recommendations to the president on issues related to national development.
The Sultan told the president that as custodians of tradition and stakeholders in the Nigerian project, the traditional rulers had a responsibility to always advise political leaders on the “path of truth and justice”.
“We have always advised our leaders, but their acceptance of our advice is their own prerogative,” the Sultan said.
The traditional rulers assured the president of their unflinching support for his administration’s efforts to fulfil its promises to Nigerians.

THAT THESE RAPISTS MUST FACE THE MUSIC : Three men docked for raping teenage girl in Lagos ... NAN

Three men have been arraigned before an Abule Egba Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly raping a 19- year-old girl.
The accused are Ogundimu Iliyas, 25, a plumber who lives at 12 Salau St, Iju; Kehinde Aderinoye, 25, an aluminium apprentice, and Ganiyu Habeeb, a welder. Aderinoye and Habeeb reside at No 8 Folorunso St, Iju Ishaga, a suburb of Lagos.
The suspects who are facing a two- count charge of conspiracy and rape, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Magistrate, Mrs Adenike Shonubi granted them a bail of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.
Shonubi also ordered them to pay N50,000 each into the registrar’s account as part of the bail conditions.
The prosecutor, Insp Rachael Williams told the court that the offences were committed on June 17 at 8, Folorunso St, Iju at around 9:30am.

Williams said that the victim was asked to come for an important discussion by the first accused, and when she got there, she met the other two accused in the room.
“The victim and the three accused live in the same area and they all know themselves, so the victim did not have an idea on what they planned for her.
“When she got there, she met the three accused listening to music and before she knew what was happening, they had locked the door and threw her on the bed.
“She shouted for help but the volume of the music was too high that no one in the compound heard her.
“It was after they had raped and threw her out of the room that her crying attracted the neighbours,” she said.
Williams said that the offence contravened Sections 258(1) and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The magistrate adjourned the case to July 10 for mention. (NAN)

APC SENATORS IN A SHOW OF SHAME : APC Senators In Physical Fight Over Sharing Of Senate Offices ... WoleStreetJournal

*As Meeting For Resolving Crisis Ended In Chaos
A meeting of All Progressives Congress (APC) Senators called by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, earlier today for resolution of the crisis among them has proved to be counter productive.
Rather than agreeing on the issues at stake, the 59 APC Senators took to fighting, while a free for all almost ensued when anger rose among those in attendance.
It was apparent from the start of the meeting that the two factions of the APC Senators; the Like Minds and Unity Forum were not prepared to shift grounds.
While the Saraki led group insisted that the remaining offices in the Senate be shared according to zoning, the Unity Forum members felt that the APC should cart home the principal offices since the other group controls the Senate Presidency.
The Senate President had raised hope when he announced at the close of Tuesday’s plenary that the ruling party (APC) Senators would be holding a meeting at room 301 of the Senate.
However, the meeting which did not start on the scheduled ime of 2.00 pm however broke down mid-way when the two groups disagreed on the formula for sharing the available Senate Principal offices.
One of the Senators who attended the meeting Suleiman Kunkuyi, Kaduna north had told newsmen that the problem was sparked by attempts by the Saraki-led group to impose its candidates on the party.
Hunkuyi had stormed out when two Senators stood up to one another in a near fight, then invited newsmen to witness the ongoing drama.
Trouble started when Senator Tayo Alsoadura (APC Ondo Central), a member of the Like Minds complained against the choice of Senator Sola Adeyeye (APC Osun Central) as Chief Whip.
He had preferred that Senator Robert Boroffice (APC, Ondo North) be allowed to take the office on the ground that Boroffice is a ranking Senataor.

His position seemed to have angered a Unity Forum Senators, Kabiru Marafa (APC, Zamfara Central), as he violently confronted Alasoadura with a push which almost landed his him on the floor.
Senators had to rush in to prevent a straight fight between the two Senators as they managed to rescue the 65 year old Alasoadura from further assault.
In no time the meeting ended abruptly as Senators who had failed to completely agree went their separate ways.
Opposing Senators had accused the Saraki group of Zoning available leadership positions in the Senate to its favorites, while denying the Unity Forum group choice offices.
The Unity Forum senators, on the contrary, insisted that all vacant positions be filled by the national leadership of the party.
Meanwhile, the formula which angered the Unity Forum members centered on a zoning arrangement that seeks to give the position of Majority Leader to the North East; Deputy Majority Leader, North West; Chief Whip, South West; and Deputy Whip, South South, respectively.
Before the meeting took off, the Senate President had appealed to his colleagues to forget the past by rallying round his leadership of the Senate.
He said, “I have convened this meeting for obvious reason, among other things, the need to come together, unite with each other and embrace one another on the platform of love, brother lines, with the believe that we would all do the needful and put our differences behind us and forge ahead.
“As we go into this meeting, let us discuss, interact and bear our minds out with the believe that there are solutions to all issues . Every thought and ideas shall be welcomed and every opinions and suggestions will be considered because this is a family affair”.

A LIFELINE WITH STRICT WARNINGS FOR COMPLIANCE : Buhari okays lifeline for states, names Osinbajo to head committee ... Tribune News

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, met with governors of the states of the federation over the crippling financial situation in the country, vowing to recover money that may have been stolen by officials of the immediate past administration.
The president has also set up a committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to look at the Excess Crude Account and see what can be shared as immediate lifeline for states.
According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, at the end of the meeting held at the Presidential Villa, the money would be recovered and systematic leakages blocked.
He also assured that the days of impunity, lack of accountability, and fiscal recklessness in the management of national resources were over in the country.
The statement quoted the president as saying that funds stolen by government officials who abused their offices in the recent past will be recovered and systemic leakages stopped."
Buhari added: "There are financial and administrative instructions in every government parastatal and agency. But all these were thrown to the dogs in the past. Honestly, our problems are great, but we will do our best to surmount them.
"The next three months may be hard, but billions of dollars can be recovered, and we will do our best."
The president expressed surprise that the governors had tolerated the atrocities allegedly committed with the Excess Crude Account since 2011 and promised to tackle the issue decisively.
The president declared that the payment of national revenue into any  account other than the Federation Account was an abuse of the constitution, adding that what he had heard was going on in many agencies and corporations, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was clearly illegal.
Buhari assured the governors that money spent by states on federal projects would be refunded after due process had been followed.
He also said that a comprehensive statement on the economic and financial situation inherited by his administration would be made to the nation within the next four weeks.
"We will try and put the system back into the right position. What happened in the Second Republic has apparently happened again, and even worse, but we will restore sanity to the system," he added.
The president also promised special assistance for the three North Eastern states affected by the Boko Haram insurgency
Following the request by the governors, the president has set up a committee headed by Osinbajo to look at the Excess Crude Account and see what can be shared as immediate lifeline for states.
The governors, led by Chairman of the Governors Forum (NGF), Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, had presented a wish list to the president that  included: Obedience of extant Supreme Court ruling that all money go into the Consolidated Federation Account and an order from the president that all revenue generating agencies must pay into the Consolidated Federation Account.
The governors also asked for review of the revenue allocation formula;
refund of the money expended by states on federal projects; a special consideration for the three states of the North East under Boko Haram attacks and full details of the amounts that accrued into the Excess Crude Account from 2011 and how the money miraculously shrank.
The governors had argued that it was unconstitutional to keep Excess Crude Account or the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) when there exists the Consolidated Revenue Account to which all Federal Government revenue must go before being allocated to the various tiers of government.
Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Yari, joined by his Abia and Bauchi states counterparts, Okezie Ikpeazu and Mohammed Abubakar, respectively, expressed the hope that something positive would happen in the next few days.
The NGF chairman, who did not give details on the committee or its terms of reference, said the governors did not discuss the issue of just a possible bailout with the president as had been reported in the media, but about the way forward on the critical financial situation facing both the federal and state governments.
He said the governors shared knowledge with the president from what he had gleaned from the report of the Transition Committee and "what is on ground."
Noting that Buhari was aware that states were finding it difficult to run their affairs because of dwindling finances, he said they resolved that something had to be done.
He said: "We both appreciate that something had to be done and we are going to move forward and ensure that our outstanding salaries that are not paid shall be seen on ground in the next couple of days."
Yari revealed that the governors also expressed reservation about the withdrawal of soldiers from road blocks which they said was ill-timed.
But he added that the president explained certain occurrences at the checkpoints which necessitated their withdrawal while they would however continue to man checkpoints in some essential areas.
Present at the meeting were all the governors except those of Plateau and Bayelsa states who were represented by their deputy governors

OH NOOOOO ... NOT LARI WILLIAMS : I am homeless, going blind, says Lari Williams, veteran actor ... Tribune News

A veteran actor, Lari Williams, on Tuesday, lamented that he needed help from philanthropists because he was homeless and going blind.
"I have heard people say that the Lagos State or the Federal Government had given me a two-bedroom flat somewhere, it is all lies,” he said.
Williams told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that he was only conferred with a Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) honours by the government without any cash backing.
The thespian told NAN that he was recently evicted from his three-bedroom apartment by the landlord, who told him that he needed to use the house for something else.
He expressed sadness at the hardship being experienced by veteran entertainers across the length and breadth of the nation, with no help in sight.
"We served this country and helped to build the entertainment sector that a lot of people are benefiting from today, but there is nothing for people like me to show for it.
"Most of us are left unsung because of the kind of structure that is being run; we should be having benefits like the civil servants. In other climes, artistes live on government subventions and are structured in such a way that they earn from their creative works,” he said.
Williams added that government should carve out an enclave for entertainers to live and thrive.
"Nigerian cultural policy should be looked into so as to fashion out ways that can benefit the government and the practitioners.
"The present government should be very careful in whom it will appoint as ministers, that it will sent to the arts sector. We need experienced individuals to be made ministers.
"Government needs to have time for the creative sector so that it can have a voice, arts has been the unfortunate ministry. If it is well structured, then we can stop dying poor.
"Look at Femi Robinson who played the second headmaster-character in the Village Headmaster: a Nigerian television drama, Dan Maraya Jos and others, they all died with nothing.
"We are not handing over what we have in us to the next generations because the room was not created for that,” he said.